i’m not discussing whether minorities get the opportunities they deserve in hollywood. moreover, it’s irrelevant to the topic at hand

does “hustle” stand on its own artistic merits? if so, fine. if not, fine. but some people clearly are placing too much additional baggage on this film.
e.g. “the godfather” is a great film whether or not italian-american immigrants are disproportionately portrayed as gangsters in film and on television (which they probably are… a topic cleverly and ironically discussed by tony soprano’s neighbors on “the sopranos”)

“boyz n the hood”, another fine film, features the character doughboy (played magnificently by ice-cube) who is no saint. i don’t think anyone remotely intelligent who watched that film left the theatre assuming that most blacks in the ghetto are violent gangstas. to the contrary, singleton enhanced the inherent drama of the situation to bring a greater understanding and sympathy to the characters.

if the only thing you want to see on tv is the cosby show, go buy the dvds. in the meantime, i think i’ll go read “the adventures of huckleberry finn”, a true piece of art–if it hasn’t been banned from the bookstores or libraries yet.

Sorry! :)

PC could you please explain to me what not listening to hip-hop has to do with being highly educated and a musician????? Ooohhhh, I get it.. hip-hop is only for the uneducated, gangster, baby daddy, grill-wearing, blinged the hell out N*GG!#$S… Just thought I’d help you articulate what you were trying to say…

Now to the point… the issue is not that minorities portray negative characters, the annoying thing is that as minorities we are type-casted into roles that fail to show the diversity of who we are… Do a search on Imdb.com for hollywood minorities Samuel Jackson, Jamie Foxx, Isiah Washington, Bruce Lee, Jet Li, Jackie Chan and tell me how diverse their roles are….

Yeah…I’m shouting.

I’ve lived abroad, & I don’t think American people (Black as well as White) get that there are billions of people who don’t know of our existence but for these films. You can never underestimate the power of visual imagery.

I am all for people wanting the freedom to explore their artistic impuleses but we cannot let ignorance and the varied lowest common denominators of our culture continue to rule and represent us around the world. I think black folks are due for a cultural movement of some sort. We have got to rescue and reclaim it!

no one thinks twice about brilliant but negative portrayals of whites. think hopkins as hannibal lector or john huston as the incestuous rapist in chinatown.

of course, a racial asymmetry exists here and i understand why minorities in particular are vigilant when such potentially stereotypical and damaging roles appear.

at the same time, some people immediately reject all such portrayals without considering artistic merit. if you don’t like hustle and flow because it sucked, that is one thing. if you don’t like it because the pimp is black, well…

btw, it is difficult to post comments using this software. is there an edit feature.

anyway.
“i’m black, and i don’t have any pimps in the family…”
Well for that matter, you won’t see many mobsters at Italian family reunions or flying zen masters at my Sunday dinner—btw, did you like Coppola’s “The Godfather” or Lee’s crouching animals?

“again what is the interest in a white film producer in pimps?”
The producer is black (John Singleton). As such he may choose any director he wishes to direct his projects. Interestingly, he chose a white director to tell the story of a black pimp. As an Asian-American, I have no problem with an African-American directing a film concerning WWII Japanese internment or say Antoine Fuqua—director of “training day”–directing a film about King Arthur.

“realize when hollywood is pumping up the stereotype and forgeting [sic] the more nuanced portrayals…training day was a great move, but the difference was that he was a dirty cop, not a stereotypical black character”

I don’t follow your argument about why Denxel’s portrayal was nuanced because he played a dirty cop. If anything, the role as it was written, not acted, lacked originality. Denzel’s character was an out-of-control sociopath, a role we’ve seen a million times in the movies, one that has been played by Walken, Hopper, and Samuel L. Jackson, just to name a few.

Where is the insight you ask? Howard’s pimp makes no apologies about being a pimp. He’s not happy about it. He doesn’t glorify it. He lives the ugly truth every day. What affected me were the moments of striving and connection between Howard and the female characters. Underneath the abuse is a real caring and understanding. They will do whatever it takes to help each other rise above their stations. I also enjoyed the contrast between Howard’s striver and the established rapper played by Ludacris. The description doesn’t do the movie justice. It is HOW the director establishes and illustrates these relationships that I like.

Hustle and Flow is no “Citizen Kane”. It resorts to a Rockyesque ending and feels mawkish at times. Still I find that the film rises above the gangsta rap clichés and adds texture to the glitter and irony of the American dream.